Did you know that the Bee populations in this Region has been under attack? Not just in the Mahoning Valley but in many parts in the Country? Actually the world wide populations of “pollinators” has been spurring a resurgence in looking at ways that we as a community and a world can begin to preserve the natural benefits of pollination. A linchpin of the natural world.

According to GreenPeace, Since the late 1990s, beekeepers around the world have observed the mysterious and sudden disappearance of bees, and report unusually high rates of decline in honeybee colonies.

Bees make more than honey – they are key to food production because they pollinate crops. Bumblebees, other wild bees, and insects like butterflies, wasps, and flies all provide valuable pollination services. A third of the food that we eat depends on pollinating insects: vegetables like zucchini, fruits like apricot, nuts like almonds, spices like coriander, edible oils like canola, and many more… In Europe alone, the growth of over 4,000 vegetables depends on the essential work of pollinators. But currently, more and more bees are dying. The bee decline affects mankind too. Our lives depend on theirs.

Rock and Roll will be used as a weapon against Cancer this weekend. Head on over to the The Embassy Banquet Centre on 5030 Youngstown Poland Rd in Boardman, Ohio 44514 on Saturday from 6:30 PM to 11PM for Generation Rock and The Acoustic Jones show that will benefit in part the American Cancer Society here in the Mahoning Valley. Make sure to bring 35 Dollarinos for your admission. And prepare to be rocked by some of the Veterans of the Rock and Roll Scene here in the Valley.

This wonderful event will be held on the evening of February 25, 2017 at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Social Hall in Youngstown, Ohio. This annual event is a major fundraiser to support the Soup Kitchen & Food Pantry of the St. Vincent de Paul Society and other various charitable works completed for those in need throughout the year.

This year’s event evening will begin at 6:00pm with Hors d’ourves and cocktails (Cash Bar is available) followed by Dinner at 7:00pm. Our Buffet Dinner will include Chicken Marsala, Pasta, Beef Tips, Italian Roasted Sausage, Salad and Dessert. Your ticket entitles you to the chance to win over $3,000 in cash prizes. The Grand Prize Winner (Need not be present) will take home $1,000.00. Additional winners of Bottles of Wine and Cash will be drawn randomly throughout the evening. A Chinese auction featuring Gift Baskets, Tickets, Sports Memorabilia, Art and many other exciting items will be available for your enjoyment. A 50/50 Raffle will also take place, along with other exciting events throughout the night. Live entertainment will be provided for musical entertainment throughout the entire evening. Tickets for this wonderful event are only $50.00 per person and will sell out fast, so order yours today!

Join us this Saturday, February 25th from 10am-12pm for this month’s Downtown Youngstown Volunteer Workday. Volunteers will do a clean up of the Mahoning Commons area and finish installing fence line mural pieces at WRTA. This is a family-friendly event. All materials plus refreshments provided. Volunteers are asked to meet at the WRTA mural (604 Mahoning Ave) at 10am.

Please click the link above and let them know you are going to be there so they can plan on sufficient refreshments.

Interested in some history and learning in a phenomenal setting? Head on over to the Ward Beecher Planetarium on Saturday between 8-9PM. Natural Selection will be showing.

We will join Darwin on his voyage with the HMS Beagle to the Galapagos Islands where he was inspired to develop his later theory of transmutation by natural selection.

From the comfort of Down House in Kent, Darwin himself will explain the mechanism of natural selection to the audience, and support it by showing many beautiful examples in nature. The thrill of a scientific discovery, the adventure of science and the beauty of nature are central in this show. This program is a joint presentation of YSU’s Department of Physics and Astronomy and the Department of Biology. For more information on how to get here, or other programs throughout the year, please visit http://wbplanetarium.org We look forward to your visit! For a preview of this show, check this link on Youtube.

Join Butler Art Director Dr. Louis Zona for the second in a series of five lectures in A Butler Director’s Art Lecture Series-Winter 2017

MY FAVORITE THINGS

These free lectures are presented at 2:00 pm Sundays in Zona Auditorium on the first floor of the Butler’s Beecher Center. Seating is limited.

In this lecture series, Dr. Zona discusses a wide range of works of art including:

Leonardo’s Mona Lisa

Rembrandt’s Night Watch

Cezanne’s Mont Sainte Victoire and The Large Bathers

Van Gogh’s Sun Flowers

Gauguin’s Vision After The Sermon and The Yellow Christ

Monet’s Impressions Sunrise

Matisse’s The Dance

Picasso’s Les Demoiselles d’ Avignon and Guernica

Wassily Kandinsky’s Painting (Autumn)

Marcel Duchamp’s The Fountain

Grant Wood’s American Gothic and Daughters of Revolution

Edward Hopper’s Early Summer Morning

Jackson Pollock’s Blue Poles

Mondrian’s Broadway Boogie Woogie

Giorgio DeChirico’s The Soothsayers Recompense

Salvador Dali’s Temptations of Saint Anthony

Willem de Kooning’s Woman 1

William Baziotes’ Dusk

Pierre Soulages’ Ceramic Wall

Jean Dubuffet The Gypsy

Helen Frankenthaler’s Interior Landscape

Robert Rauschenberg’s Retroactive II

Jasper Johns’ Flag and Target with Four Faces

The rest of the lectures in the series are scheduled for March 5, March 12 and April 9

Did you know that podcasts present an incredible opportunity for you to raise awareness about your organization and cause? About your personal brand? They do. Take for instance this Public Service Announcement that I created with conjunction with the Wild Earth Guardians.

Our national forests are a treasure. A place of serenity and peacefulness that is restoring to the mind, soul and body. Our children deserve to have the opportunity to enjoy these pristine places in all their glory.

But the sounds of nature are under threat. If we don’t act today, the only sounds that we and our children may be able to hear are the sounds of 4 wheel drive trucks and diesel engines. The peace of the forest will turn into a nightmarish rush hour of loud motorcycles and dump trucks.

You have the power to preserve the peace. With just a few moments of your time, you can let the Forest Management Personnel know that you value the sounds of nature. And how important it is for all of us to have places where we can relax and enjoy nature’s wonderful symphony.

At the Helena Lewis and Clark National Forest, the future of these forests are under scrutiny. Currently the National Forest Service is accepting Public Comments on how this national gem will be managed going into the future. These public comments will be taken into consideration when any of our Public Land Management Plans are up for revision.

Your voice can make all the difference in how our Public Lands sound. Please take a few minutes to let our Official know that you value the sounds of nature.

Let’s keep the sounds of nature for future generations. Get started right now.

Now that they have an Audio PSA, they can request that it be played on any number of podcasts with just a little research and some requests. Here at the Mahoning Valley Podcast, I help organizations, brands and individuals do the same thing. Contact me and we will get started today.